Bag closing machine



Dec. 29, 1936. R. N. CUNDALL ET AL BAG CLOS 1N6 MACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 1Filed Dec. 17, 1934 INVENTOR POBEE'T/V. CU/VDHLL B$//V(0L/V A CUNDA'LLATTO R N EY D 1936- R. N. CUNDALL ET AL ,0

BAG CLOSING MACHINE Filed Dec. l7, 1934 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTQR 205597N CU/VDALL BAY/NCOL A/ A cu/vp/u L ATTORNEY Dec. 29, 1936- R. N. CUNDALLET AL BAG CLOSING MACHINE Filed Dec. 17, 1934 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR2205527 N. CUND/ILL L/A/COL/V A CMVD/M ATTORNEI? Patented Dec. 29, 1936PATENT. OFFICE BAG CLOSING MACHINE Robert N. Cundall, Lackawanna, andLincoln A. Cundall, Buffalo, N. Y., assignors to Bagpak, Inc., acorporation of Delaware Application December 17, 1934, Serial No.757,772 2 Claims. (Cl. 112-11) Our present invention relates to amachine for sewing and sealing the mouths of filled bags, particularlylarge multiply bags made of heavy paper material. This machine isdesigned primarily for use in plants, the output of which is fairlylimited quantities of various sizes of bags. For such industries it isapparent that a relatively slow machine, operated by a single workman,and having a wide range of practically instantaneous adjustability isdesired. The principal object of our present'invention is to devise sucha machine.

Another object of our invention is to devise such a machine in whichrigidity is obtained without sacrificing lightness and mobility, andwhich is simply and inexpensively operated.

Our invention comprises an improvement upon the machine set forth in ourcopending application Serial No. 680,538, filed July 15, 1933. Theimprovements comprising our present invention will be apparent from thefollowing detailed description.

Referring to the drawings wherein like numerals refer to like partsthroughout:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the machine;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view on an enlarged scale of the essential portionsof the machine:

Fig. 3 is an end elevation looking at the right end of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a section in plan taken along line 4-4 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a vertical section taken along line 5-5 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 6 is a vertical section taken along line 6-6 of Fig. 1.

The machine comprises an endless belt conveyor designated as a whole bythe letter A; a bag sewing mechanism designated as a whole by the letterB; and a bag sealing mechanism designated as a whole by the letter C.The sewing and sealing mechanisms are supported on standards above theconveyor in order that bags placed thereon may be guided through themachine and properly closed.

- The conveying mechanism A comprises an endless belt l0 supported byrollers mounted in a frame l2. At the ends of the frame l2 there are endrolls l3 and I4 about which the belt passes. Mounted below the frame aresupporting rolls l5 to support the lower lap of the belt. End rolls l3and I4 are mounted upon extensions of the frame l2 and adjusting devicesI6 enable the rolls to be adjusted longitudinally of the frame in orderthat the belt may be aligned and tightened. End roll I3 is mounted upona drive shaft ll which is rotated by a sprocket and associated sprocketchain l8 driven by a sprocket on a shaft mounted in bearing IS. Thelatter shaft is driven by a sprocket chain 20 from a shaft associatedwith a clutch 2|. This clutch is connected through a reducing gear box22 and a belt 23 to a motor 24. The clutch 2| is engaged and disengagedin the usual manner by means of a link 25 connected through a bell crank26 to a link 21 and a rocker arm 28 mounted upon and rocked by a rod 29.Rod 29 is pivotally mounted in the framework of the machine and ispartially rotated by levers 30, 3| carrying a foot-bar 32. Upondepression of the foot-bar 32 by the operator, who is standing in frontof the machine, the clutch 2| will be engaged and the conveyor belt l0will be caused to convey a filled bag placed thereon through themachine. 7

The mechanism for sewing through the mouth of the bag comprises asuitable sewing head 35 supplied with a thread or threads from spools 36and which is preferably supplied with a reinforcing cord from a spool ofcord 31. A second spool of reinforcing cord may be supplied, if desired,to reinforce the opposite, side of the line of stitching. Thereinforcing cord or cords are passed beneath the loops of the stitchingthread to prevent the stitches from tearing through the mouth of thebag. The details of the construction of the, sewing machine are notessential to our invention and other types of machines than that shownmay be employed, if desired.

The sewing 'head 35 is mounted upon a bracket 40 which is adjustablyfixed upon an upright T- beam 4|, the arms of the T being toward thefront. Near the top of bracket 40 there is formed a sliding guide 42 andat the bottom of bracket 40 there is formed a vise-clamp 43. The guide42 never binds against the arms of the T-beam but the clamp 43 may beloosened, to allow vertical adjustment of the sewing head and tightenedto clamp the head in adjusted position. Mounted in the bracket 40 is apinion gear 44 which meshes with a rack 45 on the T-beam. The pinion isrotated by a handwheel 46 to raise or lower the sewing head during suchtime as the clamp 43 is loosened. A chain 41 is'fixed to the bracket 40and passes around guide rolls 48, mounted upon the top of a T-beam 4|,to a weight 49. The weight is formed in the shape ofa saddle and isguided by the leg of the T-beam which serves to keep it in alignment.The weight 49 counterbalances the weight of the sewing head andassociated mechanism so that little effort is required to raise or lowerthe same.

The sewing mechanism is preferably operated by means of a pulley 50driven by a belt 5| from a pulley 52. Pulley 52 is loosely mounted upona rod 53 fixed in an extension of bracket 40. Also loosely mounted uponrod 53 is a driving pulley 54, driven by a belt and motor 56. Theadjacent faces of pulleys52 and 54 are roughened or provided withfriction material so that when the pulleys are forced together thesewing machine 'will be driven. A spring may be mounted between the twopulleys to normally separate them a.

or elsewhere as is the usual fashion in such devices. Fixed to rod 53 isa cam member 51, with which is matched a cam member 58 adapted to bepartially rotated by an arm and linkage to be further described. As cammember 58 is'rotated with respect to member 51 pulley 54 will be movedto the left in Fig. 6 into driving engagement with pulley 52. Rollerthrust bearings 59 and 60 adjacent the hubs of pulleys 54 and 52preventundue friction.

Cam member 58 is partially rotated by a lever 65 which is operated by alink 66, connected with a lever 61 rocked by a shaft 68 mounted inbracket 40. Shaft 68 is rocked by a crank arm-which is connected to avertical rod 69 extending through guide openings in a bracket 10 mountedupon T-beam 4 I. Rod 69 also passes through an opening in a dog II whichis pivotally connected to the upper end of a rod I2. The opening in thedog 1| is larger than the rod 69 so that it may be canted from itsnormal position for some distance before the edges of the opening willbind upon rod 69 and move that rod in conjunctionwith rod 12. A spring13 interposed between dog II and the lower arm of bracket I0 tends tomaintain dog II in the normal or loose position so that rod 69 willfreely slide through dog II in either direction as the sewing head isvertically adjusted. Fixed to the rod 29, which is rocked by thefoot-bar 32, as previously described, is a crank arm I4 connected to alink 15 which rocks a crank 16, rod 11 and crank 18 connected to rod I2.As foot-bar 32 is depressed a sufiicient distance the sewing machinewill be operated as explained below.

The foot-bar 32, upon its being depressed, will first engage the clutch2| to start the conveyor I0 in order that the bag may be brought fromthe extreme loading end ofthe machine adjacent guide roll I4 to aposition adjacent the sewing head. As the bag approaches the sewing headthe operator will position its mouth against a guide 80 having a lip 8|thereon which aligns the bag mouth with respect to the sewingneedle. Theguide 80 is fixed to thesewing head 35. At. about the time that the bagmouth is being in serted into the channel formed by the lip 8| thesewing machine should be started. The initial depression of the foot-barmerely starts the con- 'veyor since the movement imparted to rod 12 isjust enough to cant dog 1| without causing ver-. tical movement of rod69. Upon complete depression of foot-bar 32 at the instant desired thedog II binds against and moves rod 69 to cause engagement of the pulleys52 and'54.v Likewise; it will be apparent that by releasing the foottreadle a slight distance after the bag mouth has been sewed the bag maybe caused to travel onward into the sealing mechanism while the sewingmachine stops, there being no necessity for loss of time betweenoperations. The sewing machine is preferably provided with a well knowntype of shears which severs the stitches and reinforcing cord at therear of the bag before the sewing machine is stopped, in order thatexcess wastage of sewing thread and reinforcing cords may be avoided.

The bag is now travelling onward into the sealing mechanism, which willbe described. In Fig. 2 it is seen that the short shaft in bearing I9,which drives the conveyor sprocket chain I8 carries a bevel gear whichmeshes with a bevel gear on a vertical shaft 86. Parallel to shaft 86are posts 81 mounted upon the frame of the machine and joined at theirupper extremities by rolls.

a framework 88. A frame of light beams 89 is supported in the spacebetween posts 81 and guided thereby for free vertical movement by meansof pairs of flanged rollers 90, each pair of The length of the keyway 9|allows considerable movement of this sprocket gear 92. A sprocketchain93, driven by sprocket gear 92, drives a gear on an upright shaft94carried by the frame 89. Shaft 94 carries a sprocket gear driving a feedchain 95, a large gear meshing with a gear upon an opposed shaft 96which drives the opposed feed chain 91 and a sprocket gear 98 whichdrives a sprocket chain 99 leading to the tape squeezing or pressingrolls and associated mechanism.

Figs. 1 and 4 show how'the preliminary tape pressing rolls I00- and thetwo sets of secondary tape pressing rolls IOI are driven by associatedgears and sprocket chains to rotate in unison. A sprocket gear mountedupon the shaft of one of rolls I00 drives a sprocket gear I02 whichoperates a shearing mechanism I03 to shear the sealing tape betweenbags, as will presently appear. The sealing mechanism describedhereinabove and illustrated in Figs. 1 and 4 is more particularlydescribed and claimed in detail in applicants copending application,Serial No. 666,1l4,fi1ed April 14, 1933, to which reference may be made-for a clearer illustration thereof. The shearing mechanism is morefully illustrated and described in the copending application of LincolnA. Cundall, Serial No. 11,563, filed March 18, 1935, to which referencemaybe made for a more complete illustration and description thereof.

and seal the bag against the escape-of dust and ward of the former I|0betweenthe rolls l00 to the shears I03, having been clipped from the.last sealed bag. The rolls. I00 arels'pring pressed but restrained frommeeting tov such an extent that they will not draw'the tape even thoughrevolving unless a bag is presented between the In this manner tape isnot wasted and is heldin readiness for the, succeeding bag. Rolls I0|are spring pressed and serve to press the tape into firm adherence withthe mouth of the bag.\ Rolls I00 and |0I are preferably provided withannular grooves s0 situated as to allow passage of the ridge caused bythe reinforcing cords. For further details of the tape applyingmechanism and the rolls reference may, be made to the aforementionedcopending applications Serial No. 680,538, filed July 15, 1933, andSerial No. 666,114, filed April 14, 1933. The shear I03 may be of anytype, such as described in the aforesaid application Serial Nos. 680,538and 666,114.

The portion of the bag sealing mechanism with which this application isparticularly concerned comprises the mounting and arrangement of saidmechanism. I The frame 89 carrying the rolls, the shear, the former, andthe adhesive applier,

is mounted for vertical movement upon the posts 81 and may be raised orlowered by means of the following mechanism. At the front of frame 88there is a crank handle II5 by means of which a shaft I I6 carrying aworm I I! may be rotated. Worm I I1 drives a worm gear H8 fixed to ashaft 9 carrying sprocket gears about which are passed sprocket chainsI20, one of chains I20 being fixed to the right rear portion of frame89, and the other being fixed to the left rear portion of frame 89. Theopposite ends of chains I20 pass around guiding sprockets I2I carried bya loosely mounted shaft I22 at the rear of frame 88 and are attached toweights I23 which counterbalance the weight of the frame 89 and itsassociated mechanism. Also attached to the weights I23 are sprocketchains I24 which pass around guide sprockets on shaft I22 and sprocketsI25 carried by a loosely mounted shaft I26 at the front of frame 88 andare attached to the forward portion of frame 89. It is thus seen that byrotating crank H5 in either direction the four corners of the frame 89may be uniformly raised or lowered as illustrated in Fig. 5, in orderthat various sizes of bags must be sealed.

The 'well known action of a worm and worm It will be seen that the shaft86 is continuously driven by motor 24 during such time that the conveyorI is operating alone, or whenever the sewing machine is operating inconjunction with the conveyor I0. However, no tape will be fed throughthe machine until a bag has been presented to the grip of rolls I00, theincreased bulk presented thereby causing the sticky tape to be pressedonto the bag mouth and fed forward with the bag until it is clipped byshears I03.

T-beam 4|, posts 81 and shaft 86 are mounted.

' upon a carriage frame I30 made up of larger beams than those in theframes heretofore men-.

tioned. In this manner it will be apparent that the sewing mechanism,while rigidly fixed with respect to the center line of the sealingmechanism, and which can be rigidly. fixed vertically with respect tothe sealing mechanism, is nevertheless separated from the sealingmechanism except through the rigid frame I30. In this manner vibrationsof the sewing machine motor 56 and of motor 24 are prevented frompassing di-' rectly to the sealing mechanism, which vibrations wereheretofore found to be of some annoyance. The frame I2 of the conveyorI0 is likewise adjustably mounted upon posts rising from the frame I30.Frame I 30 is preferablyprovided our invention we wish it to beunderstood that we are not limited to the specific details sincesubstitutions and alterations may be made therein which come within thescope of. our invention as expressed by the following claims:

We claim:

1. In a bag closing and sealing machine having closing mechanism forclosing the collapsed mouths of filled bags, sealing mechanism foradhering a strip of sealing material around the closed mouths and aconveyor for presenting the bags in succession to said mechanisms; acommotion connection extending from said shaft to said second clutch tocause engagement thereof upon continued depression of said foot-bar,said lost motion connection permitting engagement of said first clutchwithout engagement of said second clutch whereby said conveyor mayoperate simultaneously with said sealing mechanism alone orsimultaneously with both. of said mechanisms. v

2. In a bag closing and sealing machine having closing mechanism forclosing the collapsed mouths of filled bags, sealing mechanism foradhering a strip of sealing material around the closed mouths and aconveyor for presenting the bags in succession to said mechanism; acommon control therefor comprising a foot-bar, a shaft connected to androcked by said foot-bar, a common motor for driving said sealingmechanism and said conveyor, a clutch for connecting said motor to saidsealing mechanism'and said conveyor for simultaneous operation, avertical shaft operated through said clutch and having a,

sliding gear thereon through which said sealing mechanism is drivenwhereby the sealing mechanism maybe vertically shifted with respect tosaid conveyor, a second motor for driving said closing mechanism, asecond clutch for connecting said closing mechanism to said secondmotor, a linkage extending from said shaft to said first clutch to causeengagement thereof upon partial depression of said, foot-bar, andasecond linkage including a lostimotion connection comprising a pair ofrods extending past eachother and a connecting dognormally-permittlngrelative movement of said rods but binding the. same together afterpartial depression of said footbar, said second linkage extending from 1said shaft to said second clutch to cause engagement thereof uponcontinued depression of said footbar, said lost motion connectionpermitting engagement of said first clutch without engagement of saidsecond clutch whereby said conveyor may operate simultaneously with saidsealing mechanism alone or simultaneously. with both of said

